Lessn Plan: Dash and Dt Taylr Makela Fall 2016 Unit 1 Intrductin t Dash & Dt Sessin 1 Intrduce Dt and Dash t the class in a fun way. A cuple ideas are given belw. Have fun with the intrductin: this is a gd pprtunity t dress Dash up with fun utfits r leg crafting. See the Dash and Dt Shw Episde 3 fr ideas.
Tell the students that Dash and Dt are rbts. What d students knw abut rbts? What cmes t mind when they hear the term rbt? Have they seen rbts in their everyday lives? In the mvies? A rbt is a machine that gathers infrmatin abut its envirnment (senses) and uses that infrmatin (thinks) t fllw instructins t d wrk (acts). Tell students that rbts have sensrs t sense what is happening arund r t them. Fr example, Dash can sense bjects, buttn pushes, and sunds. Dt can sense buttn pushes, sunds, and when Dt is tilted r shaken. Dash has a cmputer that helps take that infrmatin and figure ut what t d. Rbts can nly d things that they have instructins t d r have instructins that let them learn t d (this is artificial intelligence!). Dash and Dt need explicit instructins t d r respnd t anything. Talk t students abut what a prgram is and hw they wrk in a brad way.
A prgram is a step-by-step guide fr a cmputer (like a rbt) t knw what t d and hw t react. We write prgrams fr Dash and Dt s they knw exactly what we want them t d. Ask students What are sme things that a rbt can be prgrammed t d? Examples: Factry rbts are used t perfectly manufacture parts and assemble prducts, the Curisity rver can be cntrlled ver vast distances t drive ver rugh terrain, take pictures, and cllect samples f rck and dirt frm the surface f Mars, sme rbts in Japan can play a musical instrument, and cars that can drive themselves are nw a reality. Ask students What are sme things that a rbts can t d? Examples: Rbts can t be prgrammed t have authentic emtins, learn smething that they haven t been prgrammed t learn, r reprduce in the way that animals d. Unplugged activity - Puppeteer First demnstrate this activity with yu, the teacher, as the puppet and the class giving instructins. Pass ut Puppeteer Sheet 1. Make students believe that yu have nt seen what is n the sheet. Instruct students t direct yu t draw the sketch n the sheet. Shw students hw specific the instructins need t be. The instructins must include quantity and specificity. If a student says draw a circle, draw a tiny circle, r if a student says draw a circle inside f a square, make the square much larger than the circle t shw that size is required. If a student says draw a circle and a square, draw the shapes side-by-side, r if a student says draw an arrw, draw it far frm the ther bjects, r at the wrng angle t shw that psitin is required. Then, pair students up and give ne student in each grup Puppeteer Sheet 2. This student is the puppeteer f the grup. Instruct puppeteers t make sure their partner des nt see the sketch n the sheet. Instruct puppeteers t direct their partner t draw the figure n the sheet. Alternatively, yu can have students perfrm a different task. Cllect bjects f a particular size, shape, r clr frm all arund the classrm, and place them in a certain cnfiguratin
Build a huse f cards, with particular cards shwing Create an bject with a set f tangram pieces Rerganize a set f bjects, including rtating them a certain way Sessin 2 Hur f Cde Divide the class int grups f 2. Give each grup 1 Dash rbt and 1 Blckly cmpatible tablet. Fr the first 15 minutes, allw students t g thrugh the first time user experience tutrial in the Blckly app. This tutrial will guide students thrugh the different blck types in the Blckly app, getting students familiar with prgramming in Blckly. T access this tutrial, click n the menu buttn in the tp left crner f the Blckly app. Click Puzzles, and then click n the stp light icn that the puzzles branch frm. This pens Driving Schl, which is the tutrial fr first time users. In the remaining 45 minutes, issue a small prgramming challenge fr students t cmplete. Their challenge is t make a rbt functin like anther bject students are familiar with. Students will then demnstrate their prgrams t the rest f the class r t a grup. Turn Dt int a remte cntrl fr Dash. Challenge students t cntrl Dash arund the rm using Dt as the remte cntrl. When yu d smething with Dt, what d yu want Dash t d? As a hint fr students, this is dne using a series f When blcks. Nte: using Dt s buttns instead f tilting fr the When blcks makes it easier t be precise. Turn Dash int a zmbie t chase the vice f a student. Challenge students t prgram Dash t listen fr a vice, turn t it, and chase the vice like a zmbie. As a hint fr students, this requires the use f tw When blcks: when Dash hears a vice and when Dash runs int smething (yu ll want Dash t stp chasing
smething when he s run int it!) Encurage students t have fun recrding their wn sunds fr this, like Brainzzzzz t play when it s chasing, r Om nm nm when it hits an bstacle. Turn Dash int a lighthuse t alert Dt. Challenge students t turn Dash int a lighthuse lking fr Dt. Encurage students t have Dash turn in a circle, using eyelights, and then stp and react t seeing Dt. As a hint fr students, this requires the use f tw When blcks: ne t trigger Dash t turn and ne t trigger when Dash sees Dt. Encurage students t have fun recrding their wn sunds (like a fghrn sund) and t play with Dash s lights. They can prgram a custm sund fr each Dash and Dt t be played when they see each ther. This activity is mst fun presented with the lights in the classrm ff! Here is sme example cde fr each f the challenges.
Unit 2 Variables in Cding https://teachers.makewnder.cm/lessns/intrductin-t-variables-in-prgramming Sessin 1 Befre class begins, prgram Dash with an example pattern. The pattern will have Dt making range beeps and then blink, where range starts at 1 and is increased by 3 after each blink. An explanatin f this prgram is in the Intrductin t Variables presentatin. D nt shw the prgram t students until they see this presentatin. When class begins, shw students the pattern. Students will recrd the number f beeps Dash makes between blinks. In this example, Dash will beep 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13 times. Ask students t describe any patterns they see in the numbers. Each number is the previus number increased by three. The numbers in the sequence alternate between even and dd. Open up the Intrductin t Variables presentatin. Use this presentatin as an aid t teach students abut what variables are and hw they can be used. Students may find it helpful t be gruped up sharing an ipad during the presentatin. That way they can pen up and check ut each f the new blcks as they cme up in the presentatin. Slide 1 - What is a Variable: Emphasize the idea that a variable is a kind f strage cntainer, like a bx. They can put stuff in the bx, take stuff ut, and at any time if they want t knw what s in the bx they just pen it and lk. Variables wrk the same way. Slide 2 - Why Use Variables: Each pint n this slide will be explained in mre detail in the presentatin. Reinfrce with students that their cde shuld be easy t read and edit by nt just themselves, but by ther students as well. Other students shuld be able t lk at their cde and understand what they re trying t d. That s what gd prgrammers d! Slide 3 - Variables in Blckly
Setting a Variable: Think f it this way: Yu dn t knw what s in the bx. Smene tells yu they added 3 blcks t the bx. What s in the bx nw? Yu dn t knw! S yu always have t set an initial value fr any variable yu use in Blckly. Slide 4 - Variables in Blckly Setting a Variable: Pint ut t students that there are ther things yu can set variables t start as, like the values f ther variables r randm numbers. Students wn t use randm numbers in this lessn, but they will need t set a variable t be equal t anther variable. Slide 5 - Variables in Blckly Changing a Variable: Students will use this in rder t help create a pattern, fr example, making Dash blink X times then increasing the number f times Dash blinks by 2 each rund. Slide 6 - Variables in Blckly Lping with Variables: Emphasise with students that While lps mean "D what s inside the lp until the cnditin is n lnger satisfied." In this case, the cnditin is "range is greater than 0." This means that cde n the inside will be run until the variable range has a value f 0. Run thrugh the prgram with students, cunting dwn the variable and hnking with each lp. Write the number n the bard fr each time it lps. S, the hrn wuld hnk 5 times as the prgram ges: range is 5. Hnk, range is 4. Hnk, range is 3. Hnk, range is 2. Hnk, range is 1. Hnk, range is 0. Orange is nt greater than 0 anymre. Stp! Talk t students abut why a variable might be gd t use in this situatin.
What if yu had many lps that lped 5 times, and suddenly yu wanted them all t lp 6 times? Yu d have t change the number in all f thse lps. If yu used a variable instead, then yu d just have t change the value f the variable in ne place and it s dne! S easy! Slides 7 t 9 - Variables in Blckly A Pattern Example: If yu use this pattern example as the intrductin pattern, then pint ut t students that this prgram is the pattern f buzzes and blinks frm befre. This example includes the use f tw variables. The first variable, range, represents the number f buzzes that Dash will d n each rund. Remember hw Dash buzzed nce, 4 times, 7 times, etc.? This variable will keep track f that pattern. The secnd variable, watermeln, is used t cause Dash t buzz exactly range times. S, like the example in the previus slide, it lps until the cnditin is n lnger satisfied. Run the prgram with students t reinfrce hw the lping wrks. Recrd the results f the first few lps n the bard. Here s a snippet:
Talk t students abut hw they wuld d this withut variables. The prgram wuld have t: Hnk, Blink Repeat 4 times - hnk, then blink Repeat 7 times - hnk, then blink Repeat 10 times - hnk, then blink This wuld cntinue fr as lng as the student wants t repeat the pattern. That s a lt f cde! This is hw variables can make yur prgram a lt shrter AND a lt easier t read. When yu use variables, smene can easily see what is happening in the prgram and make changes t the pattern. Sessin 2: Unplugged Activity:
Break the class int grups f 4 r 5. Hand ut tw bxes t each grup as well as tw r three Blckly cde print-uts, and several bjects t be used as cunters t each grup. The students will wrk thrugh each blck f cde. where One r tw students in the grup will hld a bx, representing a variable. One student will read the Blckly cde t the thers. One student will keep track f the variable values by changing the values in the bxes, using cunters. One student will pretend t be Dash and act ut the cde. Instruct students t swap rles fr each blck f cde. Break the class int grups f 4. Challenge students t use variables t prgram Dash r Dt with a simple pattern that can be demnstrated by the rbt. Each grup will design and prgram a pattern triggered when the tp buttn is pressed. Challenge students t use a pattern cmpletely different than the ne in the example. If students are having truble, ask them what the pattern wuld lk like if the number dubled each time? Or if it increased then decreased? Culd yu make Dash make mre sunds? G faster? Further? Slwer? Turn mre? Here are sme examples f what students might cme up with. Example 1
In this simple example students have Dash blink in an increasing pattern. Cherry hlds the number f blinks Dash will d. It starts at 1 and is increased by multiplying by 3 fr each rund. Dash will blink 1, 3, 9, and 27 times while saying hi in between each rund t signal the end f the rund. The variable lemn is used t cunt the number f times that Dash has blinked in each rund. It is reset t zer at the start f each rund. Example 2
This example represents a cmplex pattern made by students and excellent use f variables. In this example, students create an alternating pattern f spins by Dash. Each rund the number f times Dash spins is first increased by 3 then decreased by 2. This lks like: 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6. Cherry is used t hld the number f spins Dash will d. The variables range and banana are set with the values f the increase (3) and decrease (2). Instead f ne repeat while lp there is tw: ne fr each the increase and decrease. After the first repeat while lp, the lemn cunter is reset t zer and cherry is increased by range (3). After the secnd repeat while lp the lemn cunter is reset t zer and cherry is decreased by banana (2). This then repeats 3 times giving the number pattern: 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6.
Rtatins Once all grups have a pattern, each grup s rbt becmes a statin. Grups will rtate t the rbt f anther grup, leaving their tablets with the teacher at the frnt s that grups can t lk at the rbt cde t figure ut the pattern. Students will trigger Dash t act ut the pattern and recrd the results. They will then write dwn what pattern(s) they see in the numbers that Dash acted ut. Extensin: Fr lder r mre advanced students, yu can ask them t write the rule fr the pattern algebraically. Fr example, the intrductin prgram wuld be: Let an = the number f buzzes. a0 = 1 and an + 1 = an + 3. Once students have gne thrugh all the statins, have them return t their riginal statin. Fr each statin, ask students t explain the patterns they saw. Have the grup that created the pattern explain their pattern and hw they prgrammed it. Unit 3 Sensrs Sessin 1 Start the lessn by making a silly face r a lud nise and watching the students react. Ask students why they had that reactin. They heard a lud nise s they jumped? Saw smething funny s they laughed? Hw did they knw that smething happened? Living beings have senses that allw us t experience things that happen arund us. What senses can the students think f? Students will typically think f smell, sight, taste, tuch, and hearing. Hwever, help students thinking abut ther senses that living beings can have, like a sense f temperature, pressure, pain, and balance. Many living beings have nly sme f these senses, and sme have all f the senses but at different levels frm humans.
Can students think f animals that have very gd visin (e.g. birds, cats)? Bad visin (e.g. undergrund animals, deep sea creatures)? What abut n eyes at all (wrms)? Bats, despite the ppular saying, have average eyesight. Repeat these questins with sme f the ther senses. Fr example, snakes have an excellent sense f taste and bats have excellent hearing. What des the wrd event mean t students? Mst students will prbably cnnect the wrd event t a large gathering, like a scial event r sprting event. Talk with students t generalize the definitin f an event t smething happening. What are sme small events in students everyday lives? Hw d they react t each event? Open the presentatin Senses and Events. Use the first part f the presentatin t talk t students abut hw living creates events that yur bdy handles: the senses pick up infrmatin, they send it t the brain, the brain prcesses it and decides hw t act, and then it tells the bdy hw t respnd. Unplugged activity: Event Handling Relay Race The class will then cmplete an activity in teams f 3 (r 2). 1. In each team there is a sensr, a brain, and a bdy. If there is a team f tw, ne student can be bth the sensr and the brain. 2. The sensr frm each grup will be at the frnt f the rm. In frnt f them will be a series f cvered bjects, the Bx f Senses. These bjects culd be anything frm arund yur classrm plus a few fun bjects that perhaps smell funny r make sunds. These culd be cvered with bxes r be under paper. The bx r paper will have instructins n it, such as smell me, lk at me, r listen t me. Each bx cntains ne item that the sensr will interact with. The instructins tell the student hw they need t interact with it. This activity wrks best if there are 3 different sets f sensr bxes. 2-3 grups f students culd be wrking with each set f bxes at any given time. After cmpleting a relay with ne set f bxes the grups rtate t the next set f bxes while rtating rles. This way each student has an pprtunity t play each rle in the relay.
3. The sensr will fllw the directins n the first bx and get sme infrmatin (e.g. I saw a pencil ). The sensr then runs t the brain. 4. The brain sits facing away frm the sensr area t avid peeking. The sensr tells the brain f their event (what they sensed). 5. Each brain has a cpy f the Brain Event Handling Sheet. This sheet lists all f the pssible events and what t tell the bdy t d if each event happens. The brain reads the actin assciated with the event t the bdy. Use the example Brain Event Handling Sheet r create yur wn t suit the persnality f yur class. Respnses that invlve the bdy writing dwn smething allw students t build an assciatin between handling an event and writing a respnse, which may be helpful when writing cde. 6. The bdy then perfrms this actin. 7. The cycle shuld be cmpleted 4 times, with the sensrs passing n 3 r mre different types f events. After the activity is cmplete, review with students what the respnsibility f each rle was and hw the parts wrk tgether: The senses bserve events and pass them n t the brain. The brain prcesses events and instructs the bdy n hw t act. The bdy perfrms the actins given by the brain. Sessin 2: Event Handling with Dash & Dt Repen the Senses and Events presentatin. Use the secnd prtin f the presentatin t talk t students abut the cnnectin between the functins f rbtics and the functins f living creatures. At the end f the presentatin there is a bit f example cde. This cde will help Dash d the hkey pkey. Befre class, enter the cde int Blckly. Speak r sing alng the sng alng with triggering the events. Start by placing Dash n the flr r sizeable desk. Place Dt, als n and cnnected, ff t Dash s left r right, a reasnable distance away.
1. Put yur Dashes in (put ft behind Dash, Dash mves frward) 2. Pull yur Dashes ut (put ft in frnt f Dash, Dash mves backward) 3. Put yur Dashes in (put ft behind Dash, Dash mves frward) 4. And yu shake them all abut (pick up Dash and wiggle yurself, Dash makes sunds) 5. Yu d the d the Dashy pkey and make Dash turn arund, that s what it s all abut! (put Dash dwn facing Dt then clap, Dash will spin in a circle and then the prgram will stp) This prgram starts when the Start buttn is pressed. Repeat Until means that the prgram will cntinue t lp dwn thrugh all f the cde inside that blck until the end cnditin is met. In this case, it is when Dash hears a clap. This lp is necessary because therwise the prgram will nly check the if statements nce, meaning that Dash will nly perfrm ne f thse events, instead f cntinuusly checking fr
all f them. There are then a series f if statements with actins that will trigger each behavir in Dash. Object behind: Dash mves frward Object in frnt: Dash mves backwards Dash picked up: Make sund Dash see Dt: spin arund fr 2 secnds then stp. Alternatively, yu culd put each cue t start an actin as a separate When blck. Fr example, when bject behind and when bject in frnt. Intrduce t students the writing and prgramming challenge: write a shrt stry (arund half a page) f a day in the life f Dash and/r Dt with the theme A Series f Unfrtunate Events! They need t react t at least 5 events happening arund them/t them in the curse f the stry. Students can use classrm bjects t create the setting fr their stry. Allw students at least 25 minutes t write the shrt stry and prgram the rbts t fllw the stry. Challenge students t time their prgram s that they can read the stry ut lud as the rbt acts ut the stry. They can use their partners t trigger events.